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Beyond the Ryefields
By Zeeshan Zahid As The Catcher in the Rye progresses, Holden faces many problems, including his own emotional instability. Written as a somewhat awkward teenager, Holden is the type of person who keeps his emotions to himself, as seen in his introspective narration of the plot. Rarely does he allow his true feelings about others to become apparent, instead tending to speak only of what he figures everyone else wants to hear. Interwoven with Holden's internal dialogue are references to many other literary works, their relevance often resonating more with Holden's character than with the story as a whole. ''David Copperfield'' The first reference to an outside work appears at the beginning of the novel, alluding to Charles Dickens and his novel David Copperfield. The story chronicles the fictitious life of David Copperfield, its titular protagonist. Some parts of the plot find their basis in Dickens' own past. In David Copperfield, David explains his difficult life from the very beginning. His mother, a widow since before her son was even born, marries an abusive man who sends David off to boarding school – a school that was overseen by a cruel and abusive headmaster. From this point onward, David faces a number of challenges when his mother passes away and he is put under the full custody of his disagreeable stepfather. On the first page of The Catcher in the Rye, Holden assures the reader that he won't mention "all that David Copperfield kind of crap." As the story unfolds, however, we observe that Holden does go into the personal details of his life, frequently telling stories about his siblings and his days at school. By examining these stories one can better understand Holden's thoughts and feelings. ''The Great Gatsby'' The Great Gatsby is written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and narrated by Nick Carraway. The novel's primary focus is on the character of Jay Gatsby, whose only desire is to be reunited with Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost five years ago upon leaving the U.S. to serve as a soldier in the war. During this quest Gatsby manages to ascend from poverty to wealth. His journey brings him closer and closer to his beloved, but the end of this journey takes a sudden and tragic turn. At first glance, The Great Gatsby and The Catcher in the Rye may not seem much alike since the central characters have little in common. Jay Gatsby is obviously older and much more experienced, whereas Holden does not know what he wants to do. However, the two novels' protagonists do have at least one notable similarity: they both want to change time. Gatsby wants to relive the past with Daisy; however, we find at the end of the story that he is not able to achieve this goal. Holden, on the other hand, doesn't want to grow up at all. We can say that Holden, also, wanted to to relive the past because he wanted to spend time with his dead brother, Allie, who Holden often thinks about when he mentions the baseball glove covered in green ink. ''Out of Africa'' Isak Dinesen, the author of Out of Africa (her autobiographical novel), recounts her life on a coffee plantation in East Africa. The novel is a compilation of Dinesen's examination of Africa. She sketched the landscape and people that she met. It is not only a story of her past, but her experience as she encountered new things to define herself. Dinesen's experiences mold her character. Similarly, Holden learns more about himself (or at least we do) as he encounters new people and things. Both books can be explained as being self-exploration books in which the character's conflicts are majorly internal. This also relates with Holden Caulfield because his biggest problem (his emotional breakdown) lies within him. ''Of Human Bondage'' Of Human Bondage is a story, written by William Somerset Maugham, that circles around the protagonist's development. Philip's life was bad from the start. His father died before he (Philip) turned nine, and a few months later his mother passed away as well. As an orphan, he was sent to live at his aunt's house. His uncle was cruel and unforgiving because Philip cannot receive the small fortune inherited from his parents until he turns twenty-one. Philip's aunt wants to act like his mother, but cannot because she does not have any children and lacks experience trying to raise one. Over the years, Philip must cope with a number of emotions as he bears one misfortune after another. Despite being in opposite plots and environments, Holden's experiences are similar to Philip's. Both Holden and Philip did not make any friends at their boarding school. Holden didn't like or get along with them, whereas Philip was too shy to put his best foot forward. Also, both Holden and Philip dropped out of school with the potential to go to college. In addition, they both lost faith in God after coming to the conclusion that God had failed them. "Comin' Thro' the Rye" J.D. Salinger takes the book's title from this poem. Why? Primarily, the poem is about a man and a woman who meet in a field of hay and have sex with each other. However, Holden mentions a verse of this poem in a different light. Salinger introduces this poem in the book when Holden was talking about a little boy in the park that sang this verse: "If a body catch a body, coming through the rye." However, in the real lyrics of the poem the verse is "If a body meet a body coming through the rye" (Burns 1). You may be wondering how this single word changes the relevance of the song to the story. Here is what I think: Holden imagined a group of children playing in a field of rye located on a high cliff. He imagined himself being there if one of these children fell off of the cliff, thus making him the catcher in the rye. This falling from a cliff can also be taken as a metaphor meaning "the fall from innocence" (Navarro 1). Explaining further, this fall means that as a child you are pure, and innocent, but when you become a grownup your life becomes complex. That is when you start to even think of malicious things. As Holden grows up and experiences freedom in life, he encounters these spiteful things in the form of prostitution and revenge. In the end, I think that Salinger used this poem because it contains the main theme, and moral, of the story and the poem.